Kissing causes problems
by stevieLUVSAlex
Summary: E/O are forced to go undercover as a married couple... kissing... kissing... did I mention kissing... and an awesome question to end it all... are you intriged? ONE-SHOT! please R


**S**tanding beside Elliot, Olivia considered Cragen's proposal.

A charade!

She and Elliot were to pretend they were a married couple. For a long moment, she was silent. It wasn't hard to imagine caring about him, already she felt an emotional pull of friendship, but to take those feelings to a new level, made her unsure of her own ability.

Olivia turned to Elliot for a reaction. Maybe his thoughts might reflect her own if given enough time to process. He shrugged looking at her, his eyes slightly lowered to meet her eye level.

"It sounds easy enough," he said.

Olivia nodded. _It might even be fun_, she thought with a smile.

Cragen ran them through the plan, and for a long time they played around with ideas, throwing thoughts across the room at each other, until both were comfortable with the assumed con. Starting tomorrow, they were to act as if they'd been married for three years, and Olivia would suddenly be expecting a child. Having never had one of her own, she knew this would be the hardest pretense, but still she was eager enough to play with the idea.

As the day drew to a close, Olivia buried her head in the stack of paperwork covering her desk. Elliot approached the desk, taking his jacket from the back of his chair, and swinging it over his shoulders. "You ready… I'll give you a ride home," he offered.

"I have to finish this paperwork…" Olivia replied. She shuffled the papers on her desk, and sighed heavily, it had been another long day of interrogation and facing soulless perps, without a conscience. Olivia was tired, but not enough to sleep with unfinished paperwork in her mind.

Olivia was devoted to her work, in every way that her other team members, were not. Her days were spent on, thoughts, actions and emotional strain, that seemed to run into her nights.

"Okay," Elliot said with a small. "I'll see you tomorrow… wifey."

Olivia watched him walk away, and found herself laughing. _Wifey_, she liked that, it had a nice ring to it.

It was late when she finished the paperwork, and decided that by the time she went across town to her apartment, she'd barely get enough sleep to make it worthwhile, instead, she decided to sleep in the crib. She had a change of clothes in the locker room, and she'd take a shower in the block in the morning.

It didn't take long to drift off to sleep. Over time, Olivia had built up a bad sleeping pattern, but on the upside, had been able to stash herself anywhere and sleep like a baby. When she heard the sound of Elliot's voice calling her name, she stirred from sleep. "Is it morning already?" she moaned.

"Yeah, baby… time to rise and shine," he said soothingly.

Olivia snapped her eyes open. Did he just call her _baby_?

Elliot was grinning when she looked up at him. "Morning, wifey," he said teasingly. Olivia frowned as she sat up on the end of the crib and rubbed her eyes. "We have to start making it realistic," he shrugged.

"You don't call, Kathy wifey, do you?" she smiled briefly still not fully conscious.

Elliot thought about that. "No, not really."

She stood from the crib, and made her way to the lockers. Elliot followed.

"We don't necessarily have to be a lovey-dovey couple, do we?" she asked pulling some clean clothes from the shelf.

"It might be fun," he said cheekily.

Olivia laughed.

"I gotta take a shower," she said heading for the block.

Elliot grinned. "As your husband, I can come…"

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Go ahead… don't forget though, I'm armed."

An hour, later the two of them were ready to go under-cover. Cragen prepped them one last time, just for safety and the two of them were on their way. The case was particularly hard. They'd been trying to nail this guy since 2004, with no luck. The plan was to make quick friends, invite him over for dinner, drink some wine and pretend they were interested in taking home a child for heinous purposes.

The very idea of doing this, made Olivia's stomach churn.

Working as a team, it took no longer than an hour to get an invitation to his place for dinner. As they arrived on his doorstep at 6, Olivia stopped on the steps and pulled him into a tight embrace, her lips lingering close to his. She had an idea. "Just play along…" she whispered with a smile.

"Married people don't do this a lot," he told her.

Olivia grinned. "We do…"

Elliot smiled and added to the charade, pulling her close against him, and meeting his mouth to hers. For a moment they locked in an embrace, and Olivia felt something shift inside her. This was NOT a charade. She lost all her inhibitions and pulled her arm around his neck, as if she were afraid if she didn't close in on him, he'd move away. Her lips parted and the kiss deepened. She forgot she was playing a part, and focused her energy on the action she was taking.

The door opened, breaking them apart.

The man, Ethan Hunter, invited them in and offered them wine before they ate. Both accepted, and Elliot positioned himself on the couch, squeezing up beside his partner. Olivia felt tense with him invading her personal space, but she hid it well.

"Listen, Ethan…" Elliot said casually, a while later, his arm draped around Olivia's shoulder. She was almost sitting in his lap. "We actually heard about you, prior to this afternoon." Ethan stiffened in his chair. "You're a big name in Manhattan."

"Oh," Ethan pretended to be none the wiser.

"Oh yes," Olivia piped up adding to the charade. "My husband and I have heard nothing but BIG things…" she turned to Elliot and batted her eyes lashes playfully, leaning in and planting a lingering kiss on his neck. She could feel his body react to this, and treaded carefully. "Go ahead, sweetheart. Tell him what we want…"

Elliot grinned at her, pleased by her performance, and looked back at Ethan. "Word is you know how to smuggle illegitimate children into the country… we heard they're trained to please their master… if you know what I mean."

As Olivia watched him, a pleasing smile on her face for show, she was slightly agitated at the way Elliot held himself so well, he made no mistakes, his voice had an air of confidence that she herself lacked.

"I don't know what you're talking about? I think you have me mistaken for someone else…" Ethan stood from his place on the recliner and brushed down his suit. "I think we should skip dinner."

"Come now," Elliot faked disappointment. "We've been holding out for this for months."

"What makes you think I can help?" he shrugged. "What do you want with a kid anyway? You look like a nice enough couple."

"We are high bondage," Elliot winked. "You know what I mean, we like to live on the edge a little. We get bored easy, so we figured, we might as well give you a shot… you could help. We'll pay good money," he insisted. "Make it worth your time…"

Ethan considered this. "No!"

"We can take our business elsewhere," he threatened. Elliot was tensing beside Olivia, disappointment and patience was wearing thin. He wanted this guy.

There was slight hesitation on Ethan's part, but he held his ground. "No. I think you should leave, or I'll be inclined to call the police."

"Mate, we are the-"

Olivia, afraid that he was going to blow their cover, squeezed his arm. "It's alright honey," she cooed. "We can just go somewhere else, let's not bother the man. Come," she stood from the couch and took his hand seductively in her own, holding the charade as long as the man was watching. Who knew if they might need him again? "We've already overstayed our welcome."

Elliot glared at her, as she held his eyes, and he knew that she was right.

Still playing their roles, they left the house, and once in the black sedan, they dropped the façade.

"DAMN!" Olivia slapped the dashboard with her palm in frustration.

"Forget it, Liv. We did the best we could, maybe Cragen has another idea," he shrugged indifferently. Sometimes they won and sometimes they didn't.

"That bastard will continue to send children into the arms of pedophiles until we catch him."

The motor came to life. "Not much we can do about it."

Olivia sighed heavily. "If I wasn't so damn stupid… he read right through that charade on the doorstep," she cursed.

"I doubt it," he said. Instead of heading back to the precinct, Elliot found an empty car park, and pulled the sedan in, and turned off the engine.

"I should have listened to you…"

"Where did you learn to kiss like that?"

Olivia's thoughts came to a crashing stop, as she looked over at her partner. "What?"

"Where did you-"

"I heard what you said," she snapped. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"It doesn't," he said. "I've just never been kissed quite like that before."

Olivia managed a smile.

"Listen, while we're being… close, I wanted to ask you something, because I think it might be the only time you'll ever answer me honestly."

"Okay…" if he pushed the boundaries, she'd tell him to mind his business.

"What happened in Claymore?"

Flashes washed across her mind, and she shuddered.

"Liv, I-" he reached out his hand, but she instantly rejected him.

"Don't…" it took a moment to compose herself, and her focus was out the window. This was the type of conversation that involved no eye contact. "The Captain in charge, he- he got me down in the basement. He threw me on the bed, and he… tried to- well, I cut him, I don't remember what it was with, but I made a gouge in his right cheek. He pinned me eventually, to the floor with handcuffs, and he… exposed himself and then-"

Elliot reached out his hand and took hold of her chin. He was crying when she locked eyes on him. He looked like a broken man. "Did he…" he choked.

"No," she shook her head. "Fin got there before he could."

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"That I wasn't there to protect you, I wish I had…"

Olivia smiled weakly, tears brimming in her eyes. "You can't always be my night in shinning-" Elliot crushed his lips to hers before she could finish her sentence. It only took a moment to return the gesture and just as quickly, they broke apart. "What was that?" she asked.

"I don't know," he looked stunned at himself. "I think maybe I'm still thinking about you as my wife, it was kinda fun playing charades, don't you think?"

"It was pointless, El, we didn't catch the perp," it seemed like the only rational thought in her head right then.

"So. It was still fun. I should've have… I'm sorry."

"You are?" she dared.

"Are you?"

Olivia thought about it, determined to give an honest answer. "NO!"

He nodded, and started the car, heading back to the precinct.

**O**livia approached him later, feeling like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. In crib, they were alone. "I feel like shit, El."

Elliot took a step back momentarily stunned. "You said you weren't sorry, I kissed you," he seemed confused.

"I changed my mind. It's hard to want you, when you're married…" her eyes locked on his and her heart thudded wildly in her chest. He took a step toward her.

"So, what?"

"What do you mean, so what?" she barked backing up against the wall. "KATHY! Doesn't she mean ANYTHING to you?!"

"Right now, you mean more," he took hold of her hands and placed them above her head so that she couldn't move.

Her head titled slightly upwards, but she realized that she was treading on dangerous ground and turned her head. "El, don't-okay, just DON'T," the warning was firm. He released her and she stepped away from him.

Elliot rolled his eyes. "What now?"

"If I have to draw it for you, then you're not as intelligent as you think you are," she paused noticing his body had succumbed to pressure. "Or maybe, you're not thinking with your head this time."

Elliot walked away then, calling over his shoulder. "Yeah, whatever!"

In the squad room the next day, Elliot dropped his keys into his draw and avoided Olivia's gaze.

"Are you over your little spit yet?" she asked more for making conversation.

Elliot scoffed. "Let's just do the job."

"I guess not," she muttered to herself.

Elliot stood from the desk and took hold of her arm, dragging her into one of the interrogation rooms. She allowed herself to be lead, before she pulled her arm away.

"Listen, you didn't stop me when I-"

"I know that," she interrupted, and the guilt had plagued her since.

"So you're as much to blame as I am," he stated. "Why do you get to paint me as the bad guy?"

"I'm not painting you as ANYTHING. Don't lay your guilt on me!"

"It has to go somewhere," he shrugged.

"Then point the finger at yourself. It happened, El, and we can't take it back, so get over it!"

He laughed bitterly. "It's easy for you to say, you don't have a husband that you cheated on."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "So tell Kathy what happened," she reasoned. "It was stupid and you're sorry… God, El, it barely got off the ground."

"Do you know what this could do to MY marriage?"

"The same thing it's doing to our partnership," she said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means, deal with this, before you wreck what you have here…" she turned to leave, but he took hold of her arm.

"And what's that?" he challenged.

Olivia stared him down, knowing where he was taking this conversation. "Grow up, El," she said slamming the interrogation room door behind her.

When Elliot returned to the desk some time, later, his expression had changed. The guilt that had been absently before, was evident written across his face. He looked at her with remorse. "I'm sorry," he whispered across the table.

Olivia looked up at him. "For what?" she tested.

"For everything," he said without hesitation. "I behaved like a child. I should never have- well, you know. I don't want to screw up this… whatever we have," he said.

Olivia stared at him. He looked genuinely repentant.

"You didn't screw anything up," she said. "I played a part in this too."

He paused. "What if I said I wasn't ready to give this up yet?"

Olivia sighed. "El…"

"Are you ready to pretend that this never happened? We weren't pretending, you know that, as well as I do…"

"I don't know,"

"The way you kissed me, it was like… you'd been waiting a lifetime to do it."

Olivia laughed nervously. "Was it that obvious?"

"Only to me," he shrugged. "Tell me it's not over."

"But, you know that-"

"I know that I care about you, a _lot_ more than I'm supposed to."

"That's a cheesy line," she laughed lightly. "It sounds like something Jack O'Neill would say."

"Yeah, well, he got it right…"

"What? Parallel universes and Star-gate's or-"

"Liv, don't change the subject."

"I don't know, El," she said honestly.

"Do you care about me?"

"Yeah, I do… of course I do."

"But…"

"It's complicated."

"Only if you want it to be," he said.

For the longest time she stared at him across the table. "Do you know what this would mean? The end of your marriage! What would happen to your children, El?"

Elliot considered this. "I know that marriage ends for different reasons, and children live in all sorts of different homes. My kids have lived a long time without me… Kathy deserves more, I just think- well, I don't think I can pretend that I don't care about you anymore."

Olivia blushed.

"So…" he pressed.

"I don't think I can pretend not to care about you either…"

Elliot looked relieved. "Do you think you'd want to… I mean- dinner, tonight, with me?"

Olivia nodded. "Dinner. Tonight. With you."

_Hi all. What did you think??? I did the last part as a pay out to my roommate, simply because she is obsessed with STARGATE and she once paid me out in a fanfic, revenge is sweet… though she was more of a Vala and Daniel fan, to those who know the show, I preferred Jack and Sam. Anywayz… hope you liked it. PLEASE R&R, it makes a writer more inclined to get off their BUTT and write something. _


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